Columbus bands, sponsors, and the public protested R. Kelly’s scheduled appearance, citing a history of sex crime accusations.

R. Kelly was charged with 21 counts of making child pornography in 2002. He was found not-guilty in 2008, because the ages of the girls in the video evidence could not be identified.

The Chicago Sun-Times has consistently reported on sexual assault charges against R. Kelly, interviewing hundreds of people who claimed R. Kelly hung around high schools to have sex with 14 and 15 years old girls. The Village Voice recently ran an in-depth look at the Sun-Times’ investigation.

Fashion Meets Music Festival listened to the protests of the Columbus community, and announced that R. Kelly would no longer play the festival via Twitter.

FMMF and R. Kelly have decided to part ways. Thank you for your support, we look forward to seeing you next month. http://t.co/6d1OVaNHJT

Paul, it would be every bit as wrong for an adult female to be taking advantage of underage boys. That kind of offense doesn’t get the attention it should because there’s this dangerously ignorant assumption that young boys in that situation “got lucky.” I look at the case of former schoolteacher Pamela Smart in New Hampshire who was teaching teenagers. She was married, but she started an affair with one of the teens. She didn’t want to be married anymore so she got him and another teenage boy to kill her husband. All three of them were caught, tried, and convicted. While they got long sentences with a chance of parole, she is in prison without that possibility. An adult of either gender has no business tampering with the sexuality of a kid of either gender. But we’re talking about R. Kelly, a repeat offender, who has ruined a lot of lives and has never been held accountable before the law.